-4 


ART  LIBRARY 


Appendix  7 


State  Library  Bulletin 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  No.  1 


May  1895 


13 


GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY 

OP 

JAMES  ABBOTT  McNEILL  WHISTLER 

COMPILED   BY 

Walter   Greenwood    Forsyth 

AND 

Joseph  Le  Roy  Harrison 

LIBRARY  SCHOOL  READING  SEMINAR,  1893 


PAGE 

Salient  points  in  Whistler's  life 3 

Personality 5 

"Works  : 

Etchings 5 

Sets 8 


PAGE 


Paintings 9 

Books 10 

School 10 

Criticism H 

References 13 


hat/  „    ) 


University  of  the  State  of  New  York 


State  Library  Bulletin 


Bibliography  No.  1     May  1895 


JAMES  ABBOTT  McNEILL  WHISTLER 

SALIENT    POINTS    IN    HIS    LIKE 

Whistler  was  born,  according  to  his  own  statement,  in  St  Peters- 
burg, Russia,  of  American  parents ;  according  to  Champlin's 
Cyclopedia  of  painters  and  paintings,  Lippincott's  Biographical 
dictionary  and  Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  American  biography  in 
Lowell,  Massachusetts,  in  1834.  Mr  Theodore  Child  in  his  article 
in  Harper's  magazine  of  September,  1889,  gives  the  artist's  birth- 
place as  Baltimore,  and  a  personal  friend  declares  that  he  was  born 
in  Stonington,  Connecticut.  It  is  said  that  Whistler  delights  in 
keeping  up  the  mystery  of  his  nativity.  His  father  was  Major 
George  Washington  Whistler,  an  engineer  of  wide  reputation.  His 
mother  was  Anna  Matilda  McNeill,  a  daughter  of  Dr  C.  D. 
McNeill,  of  Wilmington,  N.  C. 

Several  years  of  Whistler's  early  youth  were  spent  in  Russia ; 
his  father,  in  1842,  having  accepted  the  invitation  of  Emperor 
Nicholas  to  superintend  the  construction  of  the  St  Petersburg  and 
Moscow  railroad.  Young  Whistler  came  to  America  shortly  after 
his  father's  death  in  St  Petersburg,  in  April,  1849. 

In  1851,  at  the  age  of  16  years  and  11  months,  he  entered  the 
United  States  military  academy,  at  West  Point,  receiving  his 
appointment  as  a  delegate  at  large  from  President  Fillmore. 

His  career  at  the  academy  was  unsuccessful.  At  the  end  of  his 
first  year  his  rank  was  42  in  a  class  of  60.  In  his  second  year  he 
was  absent  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  was  examined  in  only  one 
subject,  drawing,  in  which  he  obtained  the  highest  possible  mark. 
At  the  June  examinations,  1854,  his  third  year,  he  was  found 
deficient,  and  recommended  for  discharge.  Throughout  the  three 
years  of  his  course  Whistler's  name  appears  in  the  West  Point 


4  GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  J.  A.  M.  WHISTLER 

Register  very  near  the  foot  of  the  general  demerit  and  conduct 
rolls  of  his  class. 

It  is  not  without  interest  to  note  that  Major  Marcus  A.  Reno, 
who  was  dismissed  from  the  United  States  army  in  1880,  owing  to 
the  official  censure  of  his  conduct  during  the  Custer  expedition 
of  1876  against  the  Sioux  Indians,  was  one  of  Whistler's  classmates. 

In  less  than  two  years  after  leaving  West  Point,  Whistler  went 
to  England,  to  remain,  however,  only  for  a  short  time. 

In  1856,  he  was  settled  in  Paris  and  hard  at  work  in  the  studio 
of  the  famous  genre  painter,  Charles  Gabriel  Gleyre,  where  he 
remained  for  two  years  and  where  he  began  in  earnest  his  life's 
work.  Among  his  fellow  students  were  George  Du  Maimer,  Mr 
Armstrong  and  Edward  John  Poynter,  R.  A.,  author  of  the 
much  discussed  painting,  Diadumene. 

In  1859  and  1860,  Whistler's  paintings  were  refused  at  the  Paris 
salon. 

Whistler  settled  in  London  in  1863,  taking  up  his  residence  on 
the  Embankment,  and  beginning  at  once  to  draw  his  subjects  from 
scenes  most  nearly  at  hand,  the  life  of  the  Thames. 

It  was  in  this  same  year,  1863,  that  he  made  a  second  attempt  to 
have  his  pictures  hung  in  the  Paris  salon.  They  were  rejected,  but 
the  Salon  des  Refuses  accepted  them,  thereby  enabling  him  to 
appeal  against  the  judgment  of  the  critics  who  had  refused  him 
recognition.  Among  the  accepted  pictures  was  the  White  girl.  It 
did  more  for  Whistler  than  make  a  sensation.  It  caused  Paris  to 
speak  of  him  as  one  of  the  "  original "  artists  of  the  day. 

In  1877,  Whistler  exhibited  a  collection  of  his  works  at  the 
Grosvenor  gallery,  London,  on  invitation  of  its  owner,  Sir  Coutts 
Lindsay. 

In  November,  1878,  Whistler  brought  suit  against  Ruskin  on  the 
ground  that  Ruskin  had  libeled  him  in  a  criticism  on  one  of  his 
pictures  exhibited  at  the  Grosvenor  gallery,  called  A  nocturne  in 
black  and  gold  ;  a  night  view  of  Cremorne,  with  fireworks.  The 
criticism  complained  of  appeared  in  Fors  Clavigera,  and  is  as 
follows : 

"  For  Mr  Whistler's  own  sake,  no  less  than  for  the  protection  of 
the  purchaser,  Sir  Coutts  Lindsay  ought  not  to  have  admitted  works 
into  the  gallery  in  which  the  ill  educated  conceit  of  the  artist  so 


All  IS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  5 

nearly  approached  the  aspect  of  wilful  imposture.  I  have  seen  and 
heard  much  of  cockney  impudence  before  now,  but  never  expected 
to  hear  a  coxcomb  ask  200  guineas  for  flinging  a  pot  of  paint  in  the 
public's  face." 

Whistler  claimed  that  this  criticism  had  injured  the  sale  of  his 
paintings;  Ruskin  that  it  was  simply  a  fair  and  bonajide  criticism 
on  a  painting  which  the  plaintiff  had  exposed  for  public  view. 

The  jury  rendered  a  verdict  against  Ruskin,  and  placed  the  dam- 
ages at  one  farthing. 

In  18S6  Whistler  was  made  president  of  the  Society  of  British 
artists. 

On  January  30,  1892,  he  was  created  an  officer  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor  by  the  French  government. 

Whistler  has  now,  1892,  deserted  England  as  he  did  America, 
and  spends  most  of  his  time  in  Paris,  where  he  receives  more  atten- 
tion and  where  his  works  are  more  favorably  criticized  than  in  any 
other  of  the  great  art  centers.' 

PERSONALITY 

Mr  Whistler  has  always  an  electric  manner,  one  feels  it  at  once. 
It  is  specially  notable  when  he  is  standing  at  his  easel  wTith  brain, 
hand  and  eye  all  working  in  perfect  sympathy,  inspired  by  the  joy 
and  difficulty  of  his  art. — Illustrated  news,  Apr.  9,  1892,  p.  348 

He  is  a  harum  scarum  genius ;  keeps  none  of  his  work,  makes  no 
records,  gives  no  help  to  any  one  who  wants  to  help  him  ;  generally 
makes  no  answers  to  letters. 

.  .  .  for  I  had  hoped  ...  to  have  listened  to  his  delightful 
talk,  which,  though  gay,  witty  and  alert,  is  always  simple,  serious 
and  dignified  when  referring  to  the  art  he  loves  so  well  and  prac- 
tises with  so  sure  a  mastery. — Illustrated  news,  Apr.  9,  1892, 
p.  348 

WORKS 

Etchings  (arranged,  as  far  as  known,  chronologically) 

1  Early  portrait  of  Whistler,  1857  (?)  7  Unsafe  tenement 

2  Annie  Haden,  1857  (?)  8  Dog  on  the  kennel 

3  Dutchman  holding  the  glass  9  La  Mere  Gerard 

4  Liverdun  (Near  Toul,  in  Lorraine)  10  La  Mere  Gerard  stooping 

5  La  Re  fameuse  11  Street  at  Saverne 

6  En  plein  soleil  12  Gretchen  at  Heidelberg 


U.C.LA. 
Arts  LlbrarV 


GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  J.  A.  M.  WHISTLER 


13  Little  Arthur 

14  La  Vieille  aux  Loques 

15  Annie 

16  La  niarchande  de  inoutarde 

17  The  rag  gatherers 

18  Fumette 

19  The  kitchen 

20  Title  to  the  French  set,  1858 

21  Auguste  Delatre 

22  A  little  boy     (Portrait  of  Seymour 

Haden,  the  younger) 

23  Seymour 

24  Annie;  seated 

25  Reading  by  lamplight 

26  The  music  room 

27  Soupe  a  trois  sous 

28  Bibi  Valentin,  1859 

29  Reading  in  bed 

30  Bibi  Lalouette,  1859 

31  The  wine  glass 

32  Greenwich  pensioner,  1859 

33  Greenwich  park 

34  Nursemaid  and  child 

35  Thames  warehouses,  from  Thames 

tunnel  pier,  1859 

36  Westminster  bridge,  1859 

37  Limehouse,  1859 

38  A  whark    (Unfinished  sketch) 

39  Tyzac,  Whiteley  and  co.,  1859 

40  Black  Lion  wharf,  1859 

41  The  pool,  1859 

42  Thames  police,  1859 

43  Long-shore  men,  1859 

44  The  lime  burner,  1859 

45  Billingsgate,  1859 

46  Landscape  with  the  horse,  1859 

47  Arthur     Seymour     (Arthur     Sey- 

mour Haden) 

48  Becquet    (Known    also    as    "The 

fiddler") 

49  Astruc,  a  literary  man,  1859 

This  etching  is  the  dry  point  portrait  often 
known  as  "Davis " 

50  Fumette  standing,  1859 

51  Fumette's  bent  head 

52  Whistler  (the  artist),  1859 

53  Drouet,  1859 

54  Finette  (A  public  dancer) 

55  Paris:  the  Isle  de  la  Cite,  1859 
(View  looking  along  the  Seine) 


56  Venus,  1859 

57  Annie  Haden,  1860 

58  Mr  Mann,  1860 

59  Sketch  at  Limehouse    (Unfinished) 

60  Rotherhithe 

61  Axenfeld,  1860 

62  The  engraver,  1860 

63  The  forge,  1861 

64  Joe,  1861 

65  The  miser 

66  Vauxhall  bridge,  1861 

67  Millbank,  1861 

68  The  punt,  1861 

69  Sketching 

70  Westminster     bridge    in     progress 

(Unfinished)     1861 

71  Little  Wapping,  1861 

72  The  little  pool,  1861 

73  Tiny  pool 

74  Ratcliffe  highway 

75  Encamping,  1861 

76  Ross  Winans 

77  The  Storm,  1861 

78  Little  Smithfield 

79  Codogan  pier 

Called  "Early  morning,  Battersea" 

80  Old  Hungerford  bridge 

81  Chelsea  wharf,  1863 

82  Amsterdam;  etched  from  the  Tol- 

huis,  1863 

83  Weary,  1863 

84  Shipping  at  Liverpool,  1867 

85  Chelsea  bridge  and  church 

86  Speke  hall,  1870 

87  Model  resting,  1870 

88  Whistler's  mother 

89  Swan  brewery,  1872 

90  Fosco,  1872 

91  Velvet  dress    (Portrait  of  Mrs  Ley- 

land)    1873 

92  Little  velvet  dress,  1873 

93  F.  R.  Leyland 

94  Fanny  Leyland,  1873 

95  Elinor  Leyland 

96  Florence  Leyland 

97  Reading  a  book 

98  Tatting 

99  Maude 

100  Maude,  seated,  1873 

101  The  beach,  1873 


UNIVEKSITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK 


102  Tillie:  a  model,  1873  147 

103  Seated  girl  148 

104  The  desk    (Unfinished)  149 

105  Resting  150 

106  Agnes  151 

107  Model  lying  down  152 

108  Two  sketches  153 

109  The  boy  154 

110  Swinburne  (Algernon  Charles  Swin-    155 

burne,  the  poet)  156 

111  A  lady  at  a  window  157 

112  Child  on  a  couch  158 

113  Sketch  of  a  girl;  nude  159 

114  Steamboats  off  the  tower  160 

115  The  little  forge,  1875  161 

116  Two  ships,  1875  162 

117  The  piano  163 

118  Scotch  widow,  1875  164 

119  Speke  shore  165 

120  Dam  Wood,  1875  166 

121  Shipbuilder's  yard,  1875  167 

122  Guitar  player    (Portrait  of  Ridley,    168 

the  artist)  169 

123  London  bridge  170 

124  Price's  caudle  works  171 

125  Battersea;  dawn  172 

126  The  muff  173 

127  Sketch  of  ships  174 

128  Riverside  sketch    (Unfinished)  175 

129  The  troubled  Thames  176 
130'  Sketch  from  Billingsgate  177 

131  Fishing-boats,  Hastings,  1877  178 

132  Wych  street,  1877  179 

133  Temple  Bar  180 

134  Free  trade  wharf,  1877  181 
Sometimes  called  the  Little  limehouse  182 

135  Thames  towards  Erith  183 

136  Lindsay  houses,  1878  184 

137  From  Pickled  Herring  Stairs  185 

138  Lord  Wolseley  186 

139  Irving  as  Charles  First  187 
From  the  painting  of  the  same  subject  188 

140  St  James  street  189 

141  Under  Battersea  bridge  190 

142  Whistler,  with  the  white  lock,  1879    191 

143  The  large  pool,  1879  192 

144  The  "Adam  and  Eve;  "  Old  Chelsea    193 

145  Putney  bridge  194 

146  The  Little  Putney,  1879  195 


Hurlingham 

Fulham 

The  little  Venice,  1880 

Nocturne 

The  little  mast 

The  little  lagoon 

The  palaces 

The  doorway 

The  piazzetta 

The  traghetto 

The  riva 

Two  doorways 

The  beggars 

The  mast 

Doorway  and  vine 

Wheelwright 

San  Biagio 

Bead  stringers 

Turkeys 

Fruit  stall 

San  Giorgio 

Nocturne  palaces 

Long  lagoon 

Temple 

The  bridge 

Upright  Venice 

Little  court 

Lobster  pots 

The  riva;  number  two 

Drury  lane 

The  balcony 

Fishing-boat 

Ponte  Piovan 

Garden 

The  Rialto 

Long  Venice 

Furnace  nocturne 

Quiet  canal 

Salute;  dawn 

Lagoon;  noon 

Murano;  glass  furnace 

Fish  shop;  Venice 

The  dyer 

Little  salute 

Wool-carders 

Regent's  quadrant 

Islands 

Nocturne:  shipping 

Old  women 


8  GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  J.  A.  M.  WHISTLEK 

196  Alderney  street  206  The  seamstress 

197  The  smithy  207  Sketch  in  St  James's  park 

198  Stables  208  A  fragment  of  Piccadilly,  1885 

199  Nocturne:  salute-  209  Old  clothes  shop 

200  Dordrecht  210  Fruit  shop 

201  A  corner  of  the  Palais  royal  211  Sketch  on  the  Embankment 

202  Sketch  at  Dieppe  212  The  Menpes  children 

203  A  booth  at  a  fair  213  The  steps 

204  Cottage  door  214  Fish  shop,  Chelsea 

205  Village  sweet  shop  215  Zaandam 

This  list  of  etchings  is  taken  from  Mr  Wedmore's  catalog,  which 
was  kindly  loaned  for  the  purpose  by  Mr  S.  P.  Avery,  of  New 
York  city.  The  catalog  supplies  almost  a  complete  list  of  "Whistler's 
etchings  from  1857,  when,  as  a  young  man  in  Paris,  he  issued  his 
first  plate,  to  1886,  and  is  an  invaluable  aid  to  the  collector  or 
student  of  Whistler.  It  gives  under  each  subject  a  full  description 
of  the  etching,  as  far  as  possible  the  date  of  its  execution,  size, 
exact  signature,  and  other  means  of  identification,  proofs  and 
impressions,  rarity,  etc. 

Mr  Wedmore's  catalog  is  also  an  excellent  guide  to  Mr  Avery's 
Whistler  collection,  which  contains  all  the  etchings  mentioned  in  it, 
except  nos.  56,  88,  93,  97,  99,  104-11,  113,  119,  127,  129,  133,  138, 
139,  189,  191,  191,  198,  202,  204,  205,  207,  210-12,  and  214. 

Collections  of  Whistler's  etchings  hang  in  the  Queen's  library  at 
Windsor  and  in  the  British  museum. 

Sets 

Whistler  is  the  author  of  four  series  of  plates,  known  as  the 
French  set,  Thames  set,  Venice  set,  first  series  and  Venice  set, 
second  series.     The  works  which  make  up  these  sets  are  as  follows  : 

French  set,  13  etchings,  1858,  printed  by  Delatre,  Paris : 

Liverdun  La  vieille  aux  loques 

La  Re  fameuse  Annie 

En  plein  soleil  La  marchande  de  moutarde 

Unsafe  tenement  The  kitchen 

La  Mere  Gerard  Title  to  the  French  set 

Street  at  Saverne  Auguste  Delatre 

Little  Arthur 

Thames  set,  16  etchings,  publicly  issued  in  1871  (printing  not 
successful) : 

Thames  warehouses,  from  the  Thames    Westminster  bridge 
tunnel  pier  Limehouse 


UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK 


9 


Tyzac,  Whiteley  and  co. 

Black  Lion  wharf 

The  pool 

Thames  police 

The  lime  burner 

Becquet 

Rotherhithe 


The  forge 

Millbank 

The  little  pool 

Codogan  pier 

Old  Hungerford  bridge 

Chelsea  bridge  and  church 


Venice  set,  first  series,  12  etchings,  1880,  issued  by  the  Fine  art 
society : 


The  little  Venice 
Nocturne 
The  little  mast 
The  little  lagoon 
The  palaces 
The  doorway 


The  piazzetta 
The  traghetto 
The  riva 
Two  doorways 
The  beggars 
The  mast 


Venice  set,  second  series,  26  etchings,  21  Venetian  subjects,  five 
English  subjects,  1886,  issued  by  Dowdeswell : 

Lobster  pots 

The  riva,  number  two 

Drury  lane 

The  balcony 

Fishing  boat 

Ponte  Piovan 

Garden 


Doorway  and  vine 

Wheelwright 

San  Biagio 

Bead  stringers 

Turkeys 

Fruit  stall 

San  Giorgio 


Nocturne  palaces 
Long  lagoon 
Temple 
The  bridge 
Upright  Venice 
Little  court 


The  Rialto 
Long  Venice 
Furnace  nocturne 
Quiet  canal 
Salute  ;  dawn 
Lagoon ;  noon 


Paintings 

Great  fire  wheel,  1883 
Harmony  in  amber  and  black 
At  the  piano,  1867  Harmony  in  brown  and  black,  1884 

The  balcony:  arrangement  in  flesh  color   A  Japonaiserie:  caprice   in  purple  and 


The  angry  sea 
Arrangement  in  brown 


and  green.     No.  2 
Blue  girl,  1882 
The  blue  wave;  Biarritz 
Coast  of  Brittany,  1863 
Entrance  to  Southampton  water,  1882 
The  falling  rocket 


gold 
Lange  Leizen  —  of  the  six  marks;  an 

arrangement  of  Japanese  drapery  and 

china 
Last  of  Old  Westminster,  1863 
Little  Sweetstuff  shop:  note  in  orange 


Fragment  of   old  Battersea  bridge  by   Little  white  girl 

moonlight:     nocturne    in  blue    and    Night  view  of  Cremorne,  with  fireworks: 
silver,  1882  nocturne  in  black  and  gold 

Gold  girl,  1878  Nocturne  in  black  and  silver 


10  GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  J.  A.  M.   WHISTLER 

Nocturne  in  blue  and  gold,  1878  Portrait  of  my  mother:  arrangement  in 

Nocturne  in  blue  and  green,  1878  gray  and  black,  1872 

Nocturne  with  the  falling  rocket  Portrait   of  Sefior  Pablo  Sarasate:   ar- 

Nocturne  with  Valparaiso  harbour  rangement  in  black 

The  Pacific:  arrangement  in  gray  and  Portrait  of  Miss  Spartali  in  a  Japanese 

green  costume 

Portrait  of    Miss  Alexander:   harmony  Portrait  of  Ross  Whistler,  1862 

in  gray  and  green,  1888  Portrait  of   Thomas  D.  Whistler,  1862 

Portrait  of  Lady  Archibald   Campbell:  Portrait  of  himself 

arrangement  in  black,  1888  Princesse  du  pays  de  la  porcelaine,  1865 

Portrait   of    Thomas  Carlyle:   arrange-  St  Mark's,  Venice;  blue  and  gold 

ment  in  black  and  gray,  1872  Sea  and  rain 

Portrait  of  Miss  Rosa  Corder:  arrange-  Symphony  in  white,  No.  3 

ment  in  brown  and  black  View  of  the  river  at  Chelsea;  blue  and 

Portrait  of  Henry  Irving  as  Philip  2,  of  silver 

Spain:  arrangement  in  black  Westminster  bridge,  1863 

Portrait  of  Lady  Meux  White  girl,  1862 

Of  the  paintings  mentioned,  the  Arrangement  in  brown,  Frag- 
ment of  Old  Battersea  bridge,  Harmony  in  amber  and  black,  Night 
view  of  Cremorne,  Nocturne  in  blue  and  gold,  Portrait  of  Carlyle 
and  Portrait  of  Irving  were  exhibited  at  the  Grosvenor  gallery ; 
Portrait  of  my  mother  and  At  the  piano,  at  the  Royal  academy ; 
the  Portrait  of  Carlyle,  Portrait  of  my  mother  and  Princesse  du 
pays  de  la  porcelaine,  at  the  Paris  salon,  and  the  Portrait  of  Miss 
Alexander  and  the  Portrait  of  Lady  Campbell,  at  Munich.  The 
balcony  was  exhibited  at  the  Paris  universal  exhibition  of  1SS9,  and 
the  White  girl  at  the  Salon  des  Refuses.  Whistler  has  also  exhib- 
ited his  works  in  the  Dudley  gallery  and  at  the  Hague,  where  he 
was  awarded  a  gold  medal. 

The  Portrait  of  my  mother  was  recently  purchased  by  the  Lux- 
embourg gallery,  Paris,  and  the  Portrait  of  Carlyle,  by  the  corpo- 
ration of  Glasgow. 

Books 

Ten  o'clock.     Boston,  1888  I  The    gentle    art    of    making    enemies 

I     New  York,  1890 

SCHOOL 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  class  Mr  Whistler  with  any  particular 
school.  "  His  work "...  says  Mr  Brownell,  "is  .  .  . 
now  accepted  as  typical,  and  made  to  stand  for  a  class  of  art,  or  at 
least  a  manner  of  painting,  of  which  the  friends  and  foes  are  ardent 
and  fluent."     What  this  class  is  it  is  hard  to  say.     He  is  most  nearly 


UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  11 

associated,  perhaps,  with  the  impressionist  school,  yet  he  is  not  an 
impressionist  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word. 

';  The  impressionists,"  says  Mr  Hamerton,  "  are  a  new  sect,  com- 
posed, as  all  new  sects  in  painting  invariably  are,  of  young  men  who 
have  not  yet  definitely  formed  their  styles.  .  .  They  go  to 
nature  and  receive  an  impression  .  .  .  and  the  purpose  of  their 
art  is  to  render  the  impression  as  a  whole,  without  either  the  pain- 
ful study  of  parts  or  any  scientific  arrangement  of  material."  "  In 
other  words,"  quoting  Mr  Brownell  again,  "  impressionism  implies, 
first  of  all,  impatience  of  detail.  And,  so  far,  Mr  Whistler  may 
justly  be  called  an  impressionist.  .  .  But  to  associate  him  with 
a  new  sect,  composed  of  young  men  who  have  not  yet  definitely 
formed  their  style,  would  be  absurd  ;  and  an  intimation  that  his  works 
are  lacking  in  the  study  of  parts  or  arrangement  of  material,  would 
be  false." 

criticism: 

Perhaps  the  most  typical  painter  and  the  most  absolute  artist  of 
the  time. —  Scribner's  monthly,  18  :195 

His  etchings  are  universally  praised ;  but  his  paintings  are  both 
abused  and  admired. —  International  cyclopaedia 

Nothing  can  be  more  foreign  to  his  art  then  set  purposes  ;  the  song 
of  a  bird  is  not  more  absolutely  unconscious. —  Scribner's  monthly, 
IS  :  1S8 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  better  example  of  a  pure  painter, 
a  painter  to  whom  art  is  so  distinct  a  thing  in  itself,  and  so  unre- 
lated to  anything  else. —  Scribner's  monthly,  18  :  187 

Mr  Whistler's  etchings  attract  a  good  deal  of  attention,  and  differ 
from  his  paintings  in  meriting  it.  They  display  a  free  hand  and  a 
keen  eye  for  effect.  Three  of  the  oil  pictures  are  blurred,  foggy, 
and  imperfect  marine  pieces.  The  fourth  is  called  the  "  White 
girl,"  and  represents  a  powerful  female  with  red  hair,  and  a  vacant 
stare  in  her  soulless  eyes.  She  is  standing  on  a  wolfskin  hearthrug, 
for  what  reason  is  unrecorded.  The  picture  evidently  means  vastly 
more  than  it  expresses,  albeit  expressing  too  much.  Notwithstand- 
ing an  obvious  want  of  purpose,  there  is  some  boldness  in  the  hand- 
ling and  a  singularity  in  the  glare  of  the  colors  which  can  not  fail 
to  divert  the  eye,  and  to  weary  it. —  H.  T.  Tuckerman,  Book  of 
the  Artists,  p.  185 


12  GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  J.  A.  M.  WHISTLER 

The  qualities  of  few  painters  are  so  distinct,  and  indeed  one  is 
tempted  to  say  aggressive.  Every  one  will  perceive  in  his  slightest 
etching  an  effectiveness,  an  impressiveness,  a  form  which  may  or 
may  not  justly  be  called  eccentric,  but  which  it  is  impossible  not  to 
recognize  as  original. —  Scribner's  monthly,  18  :4S6 

One  can  scarcely  be  as  admirable  in  all  ways  as  Mr  Whistler  is, 
and  still  touch  the  highest  point  in  any  one  way. —  Scribner's 
monthly,  18:495 

Mr  Whistler,  in  prose,  is  always  pungent.  Mr  Whistler,  in  art, 
is  always  suggestive  in  more  ways  than  one. —  New  York  tribune, 
Mar.  20,  1892,  p.  14,  col.  6 

Mr  Whistler's  snggestiveness  is  felt  in  the  moods  which  his 
etchings  call  up.  It  is  this  expressiveness,  this  going  directly  to  the 
core  of  the  subject,  this  giving  its  fullest  meaning  to  every  line  laid 
on  the  copper,  which  discloses  in  Mr  Whistler's  best  work  his 
affinity  with  Rembrandt  and  shows  him  to  be  an  artist  quickly 
responsive  to  human  feeling. —  S.  R.  Koehler,  Etching,  p.  162 

For  with  Mr  Whistler's  equipment,  and  energy  and  genius,  the 
surprising  thing  about  him  is  that  there  should  be  any  discussion 
concerning  his  position  as  a  painter,  that  he  should  not  have  vindi- 
cated his  ability  by  something  of  unmistakably  large  importance. — 
Scribner's  monthly,  18 :  495 

And  the  nature  of  his  ideal  is  singularly  pure  and  high.  It  is 
this  which,  after  all,  finally  measures  an  artist,  the  character  of  his 
ideal,  his  attitude  toward  absolute  beauty,  his  conception  of  what  is 
best  in  the  visible  world  and  the  world  that  is  to  be  divined. — 
Scribner's  monthly,  18  :  488 

Portrait  of  his  mother.  In  the  latter  of  the  two  portraits  to 
which  I  have  already  referred  (that  of  his  mother),  there  is  an 
expression  of  living  character,  an  intensity  of  pathetic  power,  which 
gives  to  that  noble  work  something  of  the  impressiveness  proper  to 
a  tragic  or  elegiac  poem. —  A.  C.  Swinburne,  Fortnightly  review, 
49 :  745 

White  girl.  The  White  girl  is  certainly  a  lovely  picture,  but  its 
loveliness  has  a  marked  individuality.  Nothing  could  be  more 
delightful  than  the  simplicity  and  delicacy  of  line  and  hue  of  this 
figure,  nothing  more  graceful  than  her  attitude,  or  more  subtly 
charming  than  the  broad  harmonies  worked   out  by  the  dark  hair 


UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  13 

and  the  lily,  the  white  drapery,  and  the  soft  fur  upon  which  she 
stands.  On  the  other  hand,  no  one  can  fail  to  note  the  sense  of 
character  which  pervades  its  loveliness,  and  to  observe  how  its 
individuality  is  quite  as  strong  as  its  beauty  is  charming. — W.  C. 
Brownell,  Scribner's  monthly,  18  :  190 

REFERENCES 

The  books  and  magazines  referred  to  can  be  found  in  the  New  York  state 
library,  except  those  starred. 

In  references  to  periodicals,  volume  and  page  are  separated  by  a  colon;  e.  g. 
3:  144-53  means  vol.  3,  beginning  on  page  144,  ending  on  page  153. 

Academy  23 :  139. 
*American  architect  22  :  258. 
Annual  register  1878,  pt.  2,  p.  215. 

Art  journal  41  :  18  (Jan.  1879) ;  41 :  63  (Apr.  1879) ;  49 :  97  (Apr. 
1887)   illus. ;  54  :  132-35   (May  1892)  illus. ;   55  :  88-93  (March 
1893)  illus. 
Champlin,  J.  D.      Cyclopedia  of  painters  and  painting,  p.  427, 

illus. 
Critic,  Feb.  6,  1892,  p.  91. 
Eclectic  magazine  III :  154. 
Fortnightly  review  49  :  745  ;  Apr.  1892,  p.  543. 
*Gazette  des  beaux  arts  23  :  365  (1881) ;  25  :  620  (1882) ;  29 :  484-534 

(1884). 
*Hamerton,  P.  G.     Etching  and  etchers,  p.  288-93. 
Harper's   magazine  79:489  (Sept.  1889)  illus.     Theodore  Child. 
American  artists  at  the  Paris  exhibition. 
^Illustrated  news,  Apr.  9,  1892,  p.  348,  illus. 
Knowledge  3 :  208. 

Koehler,  S.  P.     Etching,  p.  162,  illus. 
*(Les)  lettres  et  les  arts,  1888.     Theodore  Duret. 
Magazine  of  art  8:468,  illus. ;  April  1893,  p.  181-86,  illus. 
Nation  51:115  (Aug.  7,   1890);    54:90  (Feb.  4,1892);  54:280 

(Apr.  14,  1892). 
New  York  tribune  Mar.  8,  1885,  p.  3,  col.  2 ;  Oct.  12,  1886,  p.  1, 
col.  2;  Jan.  17,  1889,  p.  6,  col.  4;  Feb.  25,  1889,  p.  2,  col.  5; 
Mar.  13,  1889,  p.  6,  col.  6;  Jan.  17,  1892;  Jan.  24,  1892;  Mar. 
20,  1892,  p.  14,  col.  6. 
Portfolio  9 :  8  (1878)  illus. ;  18 :  61  (1887) ;  23 :  88  (1892). 


14  GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  J.  A.  M.  WHISTLER 

Saturday  review  46 :  687 ;  55  :  241 ;  65  :  621. 
Scribner's  monthly  18 :  481  (Aug.  1879),  illus.     W  :  C.  Brownell. 
Whistler  in  painting  and  etching. 
*Thomas,  Ralph.     Catalog  of  Whistler's  etchings,  1874. 
(Superseded  by  Wedmore's  catalog.) 
Tuckerman,  H.  T.     Book  of  the  artists,  p.  485. 
*Vose,  George  L.     Sketch  of  the  life  and  works  of  George  W. 

Whistler. 
*Wedmore,  Frederick.     Whistler's  etchings,  a  study  and  a  catalog. 
London,  1886.     Limited  to  140  copies;  the  first  14  on  very 
large  paper. 

* Four  masters  of  etching.- 

Westminster  review  130  :  202. 


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